We first heard about Splashtop back in October, when the instant-on Linux desktop was announced. At the time it was a really exciting concept–and it still is–but Asus only rolled out the technology on high-end motherboards like the P5E3 Deluxe/WiFi-AP. So if you wanted to drop $300 on a motherboard you could get Express Gate (Asus-branded Splashtop), but everyone else was left out in the cold. Despite lots of initial interest, we have not heard a lot about Splashtop since then.

DeviceVM, the makers of Splashtop, just made a big announcement though. Their technology will no longer be restricted to the top-shelf motherboards and will see a much wider release. At first it will be featured on Asus’ P5Q (high-efficiency design, Intel P45 chipset) family of motherboards, starting with the P5Q Deluxe, P5Q-WS, P5Q3 Deluxe, and P5Q-E. Later Splashtop will be featured on all the company’s motherboards, over a million units a month.

Despite the obvious convenience factors, Asus is most interested in Splashtop for its energy efficiency. Using Splashtop the computer is still powered on (pretty much like normal, less the disk activity) but the key here is that you don’t have to leave your computer on all the time. If you just want to check your email or go to a web site, you can simply leave the system off and boot into Splashtop, which takes just a few seconds. You will have instant access to a basic Linux desktop with applications like Firefox and Skype.

{ad}Splashtop would be extremely useful for notebook computers, but the announcement did not cover these aside from saying that Asus “plans to have numerous Splashtop-enabled motherboards, desktops, and laptops available internationally in 2008. ” Splashtop will be presenting at Computex next month, so that should be the first chance to see products in action.